Strategic Communication in the New Media Sphere

摘要

The U.S. Government continues to seek a comprehensive, effective communication strategy through which it may project and promote American interests, policies, and objectives abroad. Many believe that the government and military have been outcommunicated since 9/11. A primary cause of this alleged deficiency is failure to recognize that strategic communication through traditional media and through the new media are not the same thing. There are fundamental differences between traditional and new media spheres. Hence, using conventional methods for new media strategic communication is decidedly less productive than developing a communication strategy appropriate for the new media universe. Successful strategic communication in the new media sphere cannot remain the exclusive domain of professional strategic communicators insulated from most aspects of mission execution. Military and civilian agencies must co-opt the skills of nearly all personnel charged with carrying out disparate aspects of a mission or specific policy, critically those in theater. Models representing how messages are communicated through traditional media are not appropriate for depicting how they are communicated (or exchanged) through the new media. Communication through traditional media is based on monologic (think monologue) communication and a one-to-many message flow, whereby one individual or group sends a discrete message to an audience consisting of many different people. Communication through the new media is based on dialogic (think dialogue) communication and a many-to-many message flow, whereby many different media consumers are simultaneously exchanging (sending and receiving) messages with many other people through new media outlets such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The author argues for the design of new media strategic communication efforts separate and distinct from those conducted through traditional media.